Czech Republic 2030 sets national priorities of the sustainable development, together with the principles and goals of the Agenda 2030 and other international obligations. It is an overarching strategic framework from which to base strategies at the sub-national level (but it isn´t compulsory).

The support of the local governments and municipalities in the implementation of the Czech Republic 2030 is provided by the MoE and the Ministry for Regional Development. In particular, there is a need for methodological support for emerging approaches and initiatives based on voluntary search for solutions that are consistent with the principles of sustainable development. It seems meaningful to develop existing tools used by cities, municipalities and regions and it is important to further develop Local Agenda 21 (hereinafter „LA21“) as the most developed sustainability assessment tool at local level so far.

The LA21 Working Group of the GCSD is an advisory body, platform for the discussion and the setting of rules for the evaluation of LA21, moderated and coordinated by the Ministry of the Environment. The members are different stakeholders – representatives of the different resort organisations, towns and regions, municipal associations, NGOs and universities. CENIA, the administrator of LA21, is also a member. CENIA, Czech Environmental Information Agency is an agency funded and financed directly by the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic. Dealings and information are open for all interested parties. Minutes and records from the meetings are collected and published on the website, from as far back as the year 2004.

LA21 as a tool for SD implementation – methods and evaluation (criteria, indicators) settled from national level, cooperation on the stakeholder platform (see Horizontal Integration below). It is updated in accordance with global and in a European context and challenges and cooperates with many different experts. LA21 is realized at regional and local level. Advanced municipalities work with data and factor it into their current situation. Analysis (in the form of audits) in 10 areas of SD (according to the Aalborg Commitments). Experts make up the opponency with recommendations. LA21 in the Czech Republic is a long term voluntary system, free of charge for these who are interested in it. The Coordinator is the Ministry of the Environment, the advisory body is the LA21 Working Group (see below). In the system over 85 municipalities are involved, a further over 100 are registered as interested. There are also 61 subjects registered (e.g. NGOs) but, they don’t adhere to the criteria (which are only for municipalities).

EU linkages

The Czech Republic promotes global implementation of international commitments on sustainable development, their implementation at EU level and their incorporation into activities of international organizations and fulfills these commitments. It supports the fulfillment of SDGs, specifically the SDG 16 at global and EU levels and is actively promoting the monitoring and implementation of policy coherence at EU level, in the EU’s external policies and at global level.

The Development Cooperation Strategy of the Czech Republic (2018) and the Foreign Policy Concept of the Czech Republic (2015) are linked to the Czech Republic 2030. In general the SDG 1 and SDG 17 are relevant for the Czech development assistance respectively the external dimension of Agenda 2030 implementation.

In addition the Czech Republic is active in the Working Party on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the Council of the EU.